Africa-Press – Lesotho. High School has announced the closure of the eighth and ninth classes due to the rising Covid-19 epidemic figures in those classes.
The school issued a statement requesting the parents of the children to collect the children and keep them at home.
The recommendation is that students need to be alone for a while in order to try to keep the situation in order.
In an interview with the Deputy Principal of Tshakholo High School, Mr Tumo Moshesha, he explained that it had come to their notice as the school administration that the teams that seemed to be most affected were the two.
He said they were aware of this last week when two students showed signs of Covid-19 and after testing, their results showed that they were infected with the virus.
He said the school took action and it was then that the Ministry of Health at the Tshakholo Hospital started screening students and teachers, adding that about 97 students were found to be infected with the virus.
Moshesha said fortunately all the teachers who were tested were not found to be infected.
“We are aware that with all the security measures we have provided to these students for the sake of self-preservation it seems weak, and the education does not seem to be coming to an end,” he said.
Moshesha said most of the children affected were living in rented accommodation located near the school there and the suspicion was that they had passed it on to other students.
He went on to say that the step they have already taken to screen and release children temporarily is a way to reduce the rate of infection, which could eventually affect the whole school.
A representative of parent organizations within the country including the Quality of Education Parents Association, issued a statement last week urging the government to close schools due to the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections in schools.
The organisation’s spokesperson, Mpho Mahula, said the organization was formed in 2018, with the aim of addressing issues related to children’s education in the country.
Mahula went on to explain that the request was made when they saw nothing being done about the status quo within most of the schools, whose teachers were found to be infected with the virus.
He said the Ministry of Education and Training appeared to have clear plans for the safety of children in schools when the schools reopened.
He said they were aware that the department did not intend to close schools despite the fact that the number of infections is rising daily.
He pointed out that when schools close, this does not mean that children can continue to be educated as they can be grouped on radio and the internet.
